Roommates
by sekimen
Summary: A prompt sent to me on tumblr. Roommates, highschool popular kid/nerd AU. (GevannixLidner)


Stephen dumped his school bag onto his bed with a huff while Halle sat on her bottom bunk in her pyjamas and a novel in her hands.

Stephen let out another sigh, this time louder than the last. It should have been obvious at that point that he was trying to get her attention, but Halle was still oblivious. Stephen decided to try again for the third time, but she remained invested in her book.

"Are you even awake?" he called out.

"Hm?" Halle looked up to see her roommate staring down at her, his messy hair tied into a small ponytail. The strands of hair that escaped the hair-tie hung loosely around his face.

"Nothing," he turned away and sat upright on his bed.

"I can put my book down, you know."

He remained silent for a while and cringed slightly before asking, "Could you help me with pre-calculus homework?"

_The school jock asking the smarty-pants for homework help? This is a day that will go down in history, _Halle said to herself as she fought back a smile.

"Forget it, Halle. I can do it myself," Stephen suddenly changed his mind.

"No, of course I can help!" she put her book down beside her pillow and stood up. "Where would we sit, though?

Their small room had a desk with only one chair accompanying it. Stephen looked around, but his search soon ended as his gaze rested on his own bed. It took Halle a couple of seconds, but she had soon gotten the hint. _He's got to be kidding_, she thought.

"I don't know, my bed?" the words that Halle was dreading had escaped his lips.

"How about the floor?" she'd replied way too quickly. "I mean, so we'd have enough space to spread the books out, you know?"

"That could work too," he said as he proceeded to gather his books and climb down the ladder.

The two crossed their legs and sat across each other on the carpet. It wasn't very soft. Or comfortable.

"Alright, so what lesson are you on?" Halle began.

"I'm on chapter five," he flipped through the workbook's pages.

"But," Halle's eyes almost fell out of their sockets, "Isn't chapter nine homework due tomorrow?"

"Uh, yeah..." Stephen laughed and scratched the nape of his neck awkwardly.

"We've got to get started, then. Chapter five is one of the easiest chapters we've taken this semester, so it should be a good start."

The clock ticked, and tocked, and ticked, and tocked again until forty minutes had passed.

"Easy? How is this easy?" Stephen called out in frustration.

"How is it _not_?" Halle furrowed her eyebrows.

"Listen, Halle. I asked you for help, but there's no need to be all smug about it," he said, annoyed.

"I wasn't-" she paused mid-sentence as Stephen snatched the book from her hands.

"I don't feel like studying anymore," Stephen announced and threw his books across the room before heading to the dorms' bathroom to take a shower.

"What the," Halle said under her breath. She felt irritation burning inside of her.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged it off as she sat back down on her bed and grabbed her book again to read. It didn't take Stephen long before he entered the room with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Wh-wh-what d-do you think you're doing?" Halle said with a look of terror on her face.

"Getting my clothes?" he replied nonchalantly.

"Did you just walk across the hall in your towel?" Halle asked, mortified.

"Yeah, so?" he walked over to his set of drawers.

"Normal people take their clothes in with them," she stated.

"Do I look normal to you?" he asked.

"No, not really," she said to herself, although she knew his question was a rhetorical one.

Stephen slid his boxers on from under the towel and threw it on his bed afterwards.

"Please," Halle said, covering her eyes with her hands.

"What, is this bothering you?" he walked over to her bed, her head now on the same level as his waist. His hands took a hold of her small ones and he forcefully moved them away from her face.

"This is considered harassment. Go and put some clothes on," Halle looked away, her hands still in his grasp.

It suddenly hit him; his sad attempt at getting her attention was turning into a filthy one. He began to feel embarrassed and slightly disgusted with himself. He quickly put his clothes on and before Halle could open her eyes, he'd muttered a barely-audible "goodnight" and turned the lights off.

"Hey, I was reading," Halle whispered but got no reply.

She was confused. _Why is he acting so strange?_

She turned her lamp on and climbed over to his bunk. Sitting on the end of his bed, she said, "Um, I could solve the rest of your homework for you if you want."

"Thanks, but it's late. Go to sleep," he said from under the blanket.

Halle let out a sigh. "I don't know what the hell's up with you, but snap out of it, alright?"

Halle reached for his arm and gripped it tightly before she went back to her bunk and turned the lights off once again. It was out of her character to do such a thing, but she figured that she'd known Stephen long enough now to show a small gesture of affection like that. After all, they were friends.

Stephen's lips curled into a smile under the covers. "I already have," he said, hoping Halle would hear.


End file.
